Six degrees

There is no ‘6 degrees removed’ in NZ, I’d say it was 1 or 2 degrees; in just 2 weeks of being on the move we have met our housekeeper from 14 years ago who parked up beside us at a DOC camp, the owner/administrator of a motorhoming forum I belong to was parked up on the other side. While soaking in the thermal pool of another camping ground we also met a friend/colleague, & family, of David’s daughter who lives in Invercargill (for those reading from overseas, Invercargill is just about as far away as you can get from us in NZ, any further & you’re in the Southern Ocean & on the way to Antarctica)

And now David’s sister & husband who are parked in the same camping ground as us, they’ve been here for 10 days & while we knew they were in the Coromandel somewhere, it was a surprise to see them just down the way. It’s certainly a small world. Oh yes I nearly forgot, & my parents. But I guess that doesn’t count as we were parked up beside their house at the time ;)

David's sister Jackie steps out of their campervan

We are finding life on the road is a very friendly one & we’re meeting lots of interesting people. It helps when you have a husband who is extra friendly & a good listener, I’m not sure folk have any intention of telling him their life stories when they meet him but invariably by the time he’s finished chatting he knows it all. He must have a very trusting face. I think he should have been Irish instead of English he’s excellent at indulging in some ‘criac’. We’ve been given fresh snapper fillets for dinner twice, once by the camp owner who only caught 4 fish & last night by the bus parked up beside us. At this rate David won’t need to go fishing! I wonder if there are any scallop divers handy……

The other day a guy who came across from the digger he was operating near where we were parked made himself known to us as he wanted to know more about our rig, at the end of a very looooong conversation he said he was bringing us fresh vegetables the next day but he forgot! Oh well win some, lose some.

I’m liking the privacy the fifth-wheeler gives us though, with tinted windows and insect screens it’s very hard to see inside during the day, unlike some campervans where I’m sure the occupants feel like they’re inside a goldfish bowl. In fact it’s quite disconcerting when people come along and stand right beside a window while discussing &/or admiring the van especially when right above them I’m doing the dishes or making dinner! It does make it great for people-watching though when you’re parked up in a busy bay or campsite.

At Long Bay over the holidays or a long weekend they are often full and their capacity is 640 people, that sounds like an horrendous amount to us and looking at the size of the sites everybody would be packed in cheek to jowl. We're both certain we would not enjoy that one little bit. We'll see how we go over the coming Easter weekend when we're meant to be at the DOC camp in Port Jackson.

Long Bay Campground where we are parked in 2 sites